Dear Abby: Battle of sexes ignites feedback

I just finished reading the letter from “Pressured” (April 23), the wife whose husband keeps track of how often he and his wife have had sex and his determination to have sex 100 times per year. She was wondering if this is normal.

I can tell her that my former husband thought we should have sex five times a week. He kept a calendar of when we had sex that also included who initiated it. I explained to him that I was more than willing to have frequent sex, but that he also had to be an attentive, caring husband.

Our marriage counselor believed he was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and was probably a diagnosable narcissist. Surprise, surprise! He pronounced our marriage counselor to be inept and divorced me.

‘’Pressured” says she has a good marriage, so I assume that means she has a caring husband. I would advise her to do her best to enthusiastically and creatively meet his needs. Most men express love and feel loved by having sex. Scorekeeping could be his ineffective attempt at communicating his need to feel loved.

— The Ex-Mrs.

Thank you for writing. The saying “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” aptly applies to the responses I received from my readers about that letter. Read on:

Most guys might keep track of how often they’re having sex, although more likely it’s how long since the last time, or maybe how many times a week. But this guy is an idiot for letting his wife know that he’s tracking it, let alone that he has a goal of 100 times. Hopefully he’s not procreating, just “recreating” in bed.

Abby, I thought you knew men better. “Fifty great versus 100 ‘so-so’ times” – are you kidding? Surely you know the saying, “Even bad sex is pretty good sex.” We guys will take it any way, any how, anytime. For us, it’s all good, all the time.

— Dan in Irving, Texas

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.